A Vatican State Visit to Rome and the Legacy of Benedict XVI: A Pope’s Letter to the Secretary of State in the Presence of Medical Issues
ROME — Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.
“I signed it and said: ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. “Here you have it,'” he said, referring to the Secretary of State who resigned in the first months of Francis’ papacy.
Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, had surgery in 2021 to repair a bowel narrowing and has been hobbled by knee pain that for months saw him use a wheelchair. Lately, he has increasingly used a cane instead of the wheelchair to get around in public.
When asked if a rule is needed for situations when a pope can’t do his job because of health issues or an accident, Francis replied that there is already a rule.
The pontiff quipped that now that he has revealed the existence of his resignation note, “someone will run up to Bertone (saying), ‘Give me that piece of paper.'”
The last time a pope stepped down was over 600 years ago. The last pope to resign before his death was Gregory XII, who in 1415 quit to end a civil war within the Catholic Church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.
Vatican City. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is lucid, conscious and stable but his condition remains serious, the Vatican said Thursday, a day after it revealed that the 95-year-old’s health had deteriorated recently.
Pope Francis visited his predecessor Benedict in the Vatican monastery where he has lived since retiring, according to Matteo Bruni.
Two years earlier, in a rare public letter published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Benedict wrote that “in the slow waning of my physical forces, inwardly I am on a pilgrimage toward Home.”
The legacy of Benedict has been clouded by a recent Church-commissioned report on abuse by Catholic clergy in the area as he was the archbishop of Munich and Freising.
The report found that he had been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors – including two during his time in Munich – but failed to act, and that he had attended a meeting about an abusive priest.
The death of Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, shocked the Vatican and the survivors of clergy abuse victims
Benedict, who was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, has become increasingly frail in recent years as he dedicated his post-papacy life to prayer and meditation.
Francis called on Benedict at the monastery four months ago. The occasion was Francis’ latest ceremony elevating churchmen to cardinal rank, and the new “princes of the church” accompanied him for the brief greeting.
The Vatican released a photo at the time that showed a very thin-looking Benedict clasping a hand of Francis as they current and past pontiff smiled at each other.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is “lucid and vigilant” but his condition remains serious, the Vatican said Thursday in an update on the former pontiff’s health.
Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, he was ordained as a priest in 1951, made a cardinal in 1977, and later served as chief theological adviser to Pope John Paul II. John Paul II died in 2005, and he was subsequently elected as the 265th pope.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement that many would have mixed feelings about the life of Benedict. “Sadly, many clergy abuse victims are not out of the woods in terms of healing from their wounds and getting the justice they deserve,” SNAP wrote.
Bruni said Thursday that Benedict “managed to rest well last night, is absolutely lucid and conscious and today, while his condition remains grave, the situation at the moment is stable.”
Responding to that call, the diocese of Rome scheduled a special Mass in honor of Benedict on Friday at St. John Lateran, Benedict’s former basilica in his capacity as the bishop of Rome.
The news of Benedict’s decline immediately raised questions about what would happen when he dies, given the reality that the pope would preside over the funeral of a former pope.
For any retired bishop of Rome, most Vatican experts believe a funeral will be like any other, with the caveat that official delegations to honor a former head of state, as well as pilgrims from Germany, would likely be present.
While St. Peter’s Square was mostly filled with visitors from abroad on Thursday — during peak Christmas tourist season — some Italians were out to pay their respects or at least offer a prayer.
“Obviously, the situation is bad, we are all very sad about it, so we came here to make a small contribution,” said Giorgio Gibin.
In the small city-state that Benedict and Pope Francis call home, life continued as usual despite the news of Benedict’s health being front-paged in the Vatican newspaper.
Why is there a long line of tourists waiting to get into St. Peter’s Basilica, Venice, Italy? The case of the Indonesian ambassador and Swiss Guards
The commander of the Swiss Guards and the ambassador to Indonesia were in attendance when Francis had a day of audiences.
The line of tourists waiting to get into St. Peter’s Basilica is almost completely around the piazza, with couples and families stopping to pose for selfies in front of the tree and Nativity scene.
Small groups of nuns hurried across the cobblestones and tour guides holding flags herded their charges, while nearby souvenir sellers did brisk business hawking Vatican magnets, rosaries and bobblehead Francis statues.
“We hadn’t heard the news,” said Liam Marchesano, a 22-year-old economics student from Mantova who was waiting to see the basilica with his girlfriend. “Maybe that’s why there’s such a long line.”